Review: Prisoners (2013)

SYNOPSIS: When Keller Dover’s daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts. But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family? – via IMDB

This was a particularly solid drama thriller and I really liked it. It was definitely not the easiest film to watch (you hear too many things about what happens to kids that go missing, so my brain was permanently running away with horrendous ideas as to what could be happening). Hugh Jackman was phenomenal as the father who is desperate to locate his missing daughter and willing to go to any lengths to make that a reality. I enjoyed Jake Gyllenhaal as Detective Loki, I think he was very well cast, and again pleasant to watch. I think he is a good actor. I felt so sorry for the families, and fluctuated between pitying Alex and then not so much, seeing how he flicked between being the silly boy he was to saying some things that he was inexorably linked to the abducted girls. The acting was great, the score solid, the way the story was set forth was good, too. The way everything looked was spectacular too, and I thoroughly enjoyed the characters. There wasn’t really anything that weighed this film down, and I loved the way the film progressed – solidly. It was a compelling watch, didn’t lull anywhere and I enjoyed it. It is a strong film, and it is well worth looking into if you haven’t done so already!

I was actually thinking of watching this right now. It is 2:30 am, and seems quite long, so might not be a good idea. 8/10 is a high rating on this well written review, so I am even more tempted. I assumed Jake and Hugh will deliver great performances, so glad to see it was true.

Thanks a lot! It is quite long but it is so worth it! Oh, nice and early/late there by you, depending if you are a night owl or not! 🙂 They really both gave such stunning performances. I hope that you check it out soon, I would love to hear what you have to say!

Solid review Zoe. I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Didn’t think I’d like it as I’m not that keen on Jackman but it turned out to be excellent and Jackman was terrific. 8/10 sounds about right to me.

I liked it a bunch through the first half – thought the first was Oscar good. Then, it has an odd shift into being plot based, and I think it stumbled into something closer to average, something with too many coincidences and too little look at characters/theme.

I thought the film was a huge Oscar bait and I didn’t like it, with all the ridiculous red herrings and twists, but Jake Gyllenhaal was absolutely mesmerizing especially considering the material he was given to work with.

I will agree with you that the acting is really good, but once the reveal happens at the end. I felt it ends on a weak note. We never see the aftermath of a key character and the emotional response of what another character has caused that person.(not trying to be all spolierfic

Thanks for stopping by! The performances really were great! I sort of liked it. At first I was like “wait, what?” and then realised that what I liked so much about this movie is it focuses purely on the issue at hand, nothing before, nothing after.